Book Review: How to Be Perfectly Unhappy by Matthew Inman, The Oatmeal

Matthew Inman—Eisner Award-winning creator of The Oatmealand #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You—serves yet another helping of thoughtful hilarity in this charming, illustrated gift book for anyone who is irked by the question: “Are you happy?”

In How To Be Perfectly Unhappy, Inman explores the surprising benefits of forgetting about “happiness,” and embracing instead the meaningful activities that keep us busy and interested and fascinated.

My Review:

How can something so short unravel the paradox of what is happiness, and if being unhappy = being miserable?

Through varying styles of comic illustrations, the oatmeal goes on a journey of understating the concept of happiness vs being content. Each style served its purpose, leaving a mark in my memory with its vivid imagery and styler of words.

I absolutely adored this, mostly because I finally found something that represented the emotion that I feel quite often. If you ever felt like happiness is a blurred line , then I highly recommend that you pick up this graphic novel.

I received an eARC in exchange with an honest review.

About the author:

Matthew Inman (a.k.a. “The Oatmeal”) is a Web designer and developer from Seattle, Washington. He has been designing Web sites since the age of 13 and is a seasoned programmer, systems administrator, and online marketer. Matthew launched theoatmeal.com in 2009.